Setting Sail Through Transitions: Are we depending too much on the predictable?

Smooth Sailing...This is an often quoted phrase descriptive of a peaceful and predictable state that most everyone would love to exist in. The quote infers that your affairs are in order and that you are the captain of the S.S. My Life sailing towards your proper future. In other words, you believe to be resourced and well equipped for the predictable. The statement smooth sailing is also often associated with the phrase "famous last words." The problem with a smooth sailing aspiration is that life has never promised to be predictable. So why then do we struggle so much when it isn't? Could it be that the state of predictability that we associate with our smooth sailing is an infiltrator to be wary of instead of longed for?
In our hunt for the empowerment and salvation we often seek to achieve through social associations, careers, locations, and possessions, the predictability factor may be the demise of our contentment and our ability to maximize the growth that comes through those unpredictable transitions.


In my June 13th post "How many habits does it take?" we tried to peel back the mystery and intimidation of change by relating the four principles of physical athletic adaptation which can hold the same value in regards to any change process. The overload principle (which takes into account the relation between your current capacity and that of the increased demand) is fundamental to any human growth adaptation. Yet, if the demand we face is far beyond the scope of our predictability meter we can enter a state shock. 

Today, we are surrounded with ample examples of shock. Many families have lost a significant financial investment, and certainly their largest emotional investment through the housing crisis. Employers and employees alike have lost careers and revenue sources that their long-term plans relied on. Globally, countries like Greece are experiencing severe shock since their entire culture is being undermined by economic measures their young and old have never had to calculate into their life map. The charted course was never supposed to have traveled this way.

While I wish there was a painless prescription for dealing with transitions of any nature, I do suggest that transitions are not all bad. In fact, it may be a catalyst to discovering a new reality that you will enjoy much more. The predictable can be the invisible walls of comfort that are limiting your potential.  In the book Leading at The Edge of Chaos: How to Create The Nimble Organization author, Daryl R. Conner, writes about how pain is a must for successful transition to occur, otherwise we will always gravitate to the comfort of the predictable (1998).

Anytime I can hear a story of someone who experienced a successful transition I am inspired. I try to bank those stories in my memory in preparation for my own next transition that may or may not come through my prerogative. The Nashville Public Radio recently posted a series of real life transition stories that have captivated me. The interviews cover all stages of transition ranging from a photographer who turned into a baker or a musician who turned lawyer. The human being is a remarkably strong and adaptable entity. These personal stories can attest to it being so. When our predictable is shaken, the challenge for us all is whether or not it drives us to dysfunction or adaptation. Thankfully, it stories like those listed in the series that can let us know we are not alone. 

Win Today!

Victor